Youths Keep Vigil For Port Harcourt X-Factor Audition

HUNDREDS of enthusiastic youths trooped out to fight for wealth and fame on the TV reality show, X-Factor, as the programme took off in Port Harcourt Saturday.

The show was brought to Africa for the first time by Globacom.

As early as 7.30 am, over 200 participants, some of whom kept vigil at the venue to beat the anticipated early morning rush, had converged on the Presidential Hotel, venue of the auditions. By midday, over 600 participants had registered and had been accredited to participate .

Just as the prospective music stars were surging to register and be auditioned, newly arrived hopefuls were also falling over one another to buy, register and activate their Glo lines at the sales points so as to participate at the event.

Some of the participants travelled from Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Edo states to fancy their chances of winning the prize money of N24 million and a recording contract with Sony Music international. The participants expressed gratitude to Globacom for making their dreams come through at no cost.

Kutcheti John, a guitarist, singer and broadcaster, who came for the audition, said the reality show was a wonderful experience for him.

“I must say that this is a wonderful and fantastic experience for me. Glo is awesome. I treasure this moment and I thank Glo for providing Nigerian youths the biggest platform to showcase our latent talents. That we have this wonderful experience free of charge shows that Glo cares about the Nigerian people and it does not matter again if one wins or not. The fact that one has the opportunity to be on this platform is self fulfilling”, he said.

Echoing Kutcheti, Queenet Orubo, 200-level medical student of the University of Port Harcourt noted that her appearance at the auditions “is a good and wonderful experience for me as I feel on top of the world that a platform has been given to me to exercise my innate ability”.

Vera Tarifikiye of the English Department of the Niger Delta University, Amasoma, Bayelsa State, said she had no regret traveling all the way from Amasoma “to be part of this epoch making event”.

“If I had not made it to this event today, I would have lived to regret that. This is a fabulous experience for me . I thank Glo for this wonderful opportunity,” she enthused.

Globacom’s Head of Reality Show, Mr. Sulyman Bello, said that the Port Harcourt auditions would end today (Sunday) while the next round of auditions would take place later this week in Abuja followed by the Lagos auditions to end the Nigerian leg of the audition series before the train moves to Kumasi and Accra in Ghana.